McCain's final reminder to the American people last night was that they should remember the need for a steady hand at the tiller. Like a lot of younger American people, I immediately wondered what a tiller was. And if Wikipedia is to be believed -- and why would you doubt Wikipedia? -- the analogy doesn't do McCain any favors:A tiller or till is a lever attached to a rudder post (American terminology) or rudder stock (English terminology) of a boat in order to provide the leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder. The tiller is normally used by the helmsman directly pulling or pushing it, but it may also be moved remotely using tiller lines.[...]Until the current international standards were applied in the 1930s, it was common for steering orders on ships to be given as 'Tiller Orders', i.e.- the order given dictated which side of the vessel the tiller was to be moved. Since the tiller's movement is reversed at the rudder, orders were seemingly given 'the wrong way round'. For example, to turn a ship to port (its left side), the helmsman would be given the order 'starboard helm' or ' X degrees starboard'. The ship's tiller was then put over to the side ordered, turning the rudder to the vessel's port side, producing a turn to port.[...]Although this system seems confusing and contradictory today, to generations of sailors trained on sailing vessels with tiller steering it seemed perfectly logical and was instinctively understood by all seafarers. Only when new generations of sailors trained on ships with wheel-and-tiller steering came into the industry was the system replaced.A steady hand on the tiller is the sort of thing that would have made more sense a couple generations ago. Sort of like John McCain's candidacy.
